Fanfic writing just got a little less thankless and potentially more rewarding with a creative writing contest just announced by Blizzard. Winners get a sword, lunch, and a peek at Blizz HQ.
Fans of Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablo are invited to write 3,000 to 10,000 words, set in either of the three franchises. The grand winner gets a trip to Irvine, Calif. to meet and dine with the Blizzard lore staff. He or she (but, since this is fan fiction, I mean, yeah, probably a he) will get a Frostmourne sword. Runners-up, and there will be seven, get prize packages comprised of signed copies of the Blizzard novels.
The contest is open worldwide, so, if the winner happens to reside in Ulan Bator, guess that means Blizzard will spring for the airfare and lodging. And since this will be judged by the Blizzard folks, I'm reasonably sure entries should keep it all fapfree and all the characters should belong to Blizzard IP. So, no weird crossovers with Sailor Moon or Stargate: SG1, and no hot orc-on-elf action either, no matter how good you think you are at describing such passion. More details at the official contest entry page.
Blizzard Invites Fan Writer to their Offices [Incgamer]